Mark Fretz

Dr. Fretz is a Research Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Knowledge Exchange at the University of Oregon’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment. He directs the Institute’s industry research consortium, Build Health, which leverages design thinking and transdisciplinary science collaboration to develop and apply innovative design solutions for low-carbon buildings that simultaneously promote healthier individuals, communities and planet. Prior to practicing architecture, Mark was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service. As a designer, Mark has worked on projects ranging from product design to healthcare, multi-family housing, embassies, office buildings and district scale master planning. His research and teaching focus on exploring the unseen experiential design elements in the built environment that affect human health across multiple scales ranging from microbes and molecules to energy and carbon.